SUSD: Safety always priority

Sunday

Dec 23, 2012 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Though a top National Rifle Association official says "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," Stockton Unified leaders are treading a more measured path toward improving school security in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut.

Roger Phillips

STOCKTON - Though a top National Rifle Association official says "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," Stockton Unified leaders are treading a more measured path toward improving school security in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut.

A combination of training, architectural safeguards, technology and keeping students engaged is a more realistic approach - and certainly more economically feasible - than placing an armed guard at every school, Stockton Unified officials said.

"Schools are far safer for children than staying home," Superintendent Steve Lowder said Friday. "But we need to improve what we are doing. That's the real message. We have an obligation to be reasonable and do the best we can to be sure our students and staff are as safe as possible."

Lowder said one advantage Stockton Unified has over many districts is its police force, one of only about 15 school police forces statewide. The school board may vote to increase the force's staffing of about 15 officers as soon as next month.

Many other security measures already were planned - and some had been completed - before a lone gunman walked onto the Sandy Hook campus Dec. 14 and killed 26 children and adults.

Among the measures:

» Responding to a series of campus gun incidents in recent months in which no one was injured, trustees this month approved a contract with a company that does school searches with drug- and gunpowder-sniffing dogs.

» More than 220 administrators and support staff have completed training in dealing with crises provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Threats to schools can be internal or external, West said, adding that the likelihood of internal threats can be reduced if strong extracurricular and after-school programs are in place.

"If students are engaged," West said, "they're less likely to be enraged."

West said the police force is diligent in its efforts to ensure that campuses are conducting required safety exercises.

"When we notice that a school hasn't gotten around to its drills, we do what we call surprise visits," West said. "We'll walk in on a school and say, 'Do an evacuation drill. Now. Do a lockdown drill. Now.' "

Last week, Lowder suggested Stockton Unified consider purchasing a computerized system that would conduct automated background checks of any visitor trying to enter a campus through a school office.

Lowder's former district, Hemet Unified, has installed such a system at its 28 campuses and at its central office. Lucy Rebuck, Hemet Unified's safety director, said the system has been effective in keeping several registered sex offenders and other undesirables off campuses. She said legitimate visitors have gotten used to waiting for one or two minutes for Hemet's LobbyGuard system to conduct its checks.

"The good far outweighs the little bit of delay," Rebuck said.

The Hemet Unified system's price tag was about $1,000 a school, Rebuck said - clearly a much more realistic cost than placing armed guards at every school in the country. After the NRA made its suggestion Friday, various estimates put the cost of placing armed guards at every school nationally in the many billions of dollars.

With the pain of Newtown still achingly fresh, school security will remain a major topic of conversation for the foreseeable future. The questions will continue to nag.

"How can we be better?" Stockton Unified board member Steve Smith asked. "Is there something we can do to be better? We don't know everything. We can always sharpen ourselves."